1 Let him toil as he will, the sot’s purse is empty; little things despise, and little by little thou shalt come to ruin. 2 Wine and women, what a trap for the loyalty of the wise, how hard a test of good sense! 3 He will go from bad to worse, that clings to a harlot’s love; waste and worm shall have him for their prize; one gibbet the more, one living soul the less.

4 Rash heart that lightly trusts shall lose all; forfeit thy own right to live, and none will pity thee. 5 A foul blot it is, to take pride in wrong-doing; a courting of death, to despise reproof; a riddance of much mischief, to forswear chattering. 6 Who forfeits his own right to live, will live to rue it; who loves cruelty, blots his own name.

7 Malicious word if thou hear, or harsh, do not repeat it; never wilt thou be the loser. 8 Speak not out thy own thought for friend and foe to hear alike, nor ever, if thou hast done wrong, discover the secret. 9 He that hears it will be on his guard, and eye thee askance, as if to avert fresh fault of thine; such will be all his demeanour to thee thenceforward.[1] 10 Hast thou heard a tale to thy neighbour’s disadvantage? Take it to the grave with thee. Courage, man! it will not burst thee. 11 A fool with a secret labours as with child, and groans till he is delivered of it; 12 out it must come, like an arrow stuck in a man’s thigh, from that reckless heart.

13 Confront thy friend with his fault; it may be he knows nothing of the matter, and can clear himself; if not, there is hope he will amend. 14 Confront him with the word spoken amiss; it may be, he never said it, or if say it he did, never again will he repeat it. 15 Be open with thy friend; tongues will still be clattering,[2] 16 and thou dost well to believe less than is told thee. Slips there are of the tongue when mind is innocent; 17 what tongue was ever perfectly guarded? Confront thy neighbour with his fault ere thou quarrellest with him, 18 and let the fear of the most High God do its work.

What is true wisdom? Nothing but the fear of God. And since the fear of God is contained in all true wisdom, it must be directed by his law; 19 wisdom is none in following the maxims of impiety, prudence is none in scheming as the wicked scheme. 20 Cunning rogues they may be, yet altogether abominable; a fool he must ever be called, that lacks the true wisdom.[3] 21 Better a simpleton that wit has none, yet knows fear, than a man of great address, that breaks the law of the most High. 22 Exact and adroit even a rogue may be; 23 it is another thing to utter the plain word that tells the whole truth. Here is one that wears the garb of penance for wicked ends, his heart full of guile; 24 here is one that bows and scrapes, and walks with bent head, feigning not to see what is best left unnoticed, 25 and all because he is powerless to do thee a harm; if the chance of villainy comes, he will take it. 26 Yet a man’s looks betray him; a man of good sense will make himself known to thee at first meeting; 27 the clothes he wears, the smile on his lips, his gait, will all make thee acquainted with a man’s character.

[1] vv. 8, 9: The sense of the Greek text is: ‘Do not tell tales about friend or foe; bring nothing to light, unless it were sin in thee (to keep silent). Friend or foe will hear of it, and will keep thee under his eye, waiting for the opportunity to shew his hatred of thee’.

[2] Literally, ‘for often there is competition’, i.e., in the retailing of scandal; the same word is used by the Latin version as in 18.32 above. The Greek text has, ‘often there is slander’.

[3] The first half of this verse runs, both in the Greek and in the Latin, ‘There is a wickedness (or, worthlessness), and it is an abomination’; a phrase which means little and does not suit the context. Evidently the Hebrew original contained some word which might be interpreted either as ‘prudence’ or as ‘wickedness’; e.g., the word used in the former sense by Prov. 1.4, and in the latter sense by Jer. 11.15.